Android dominates Dutch smartphone market with 71% share

Wednesday 18 June 2014 | 15:37 CET | Background

Google's Android dominates among mobile operating systems in the Netherlands. The top three of mobile OS also includes Apple's iOS and Windows Phone from Microsoft, according to the latest results from the Telecompaper Consumer Panel.

Just over 70 percent of Dutch smartphone users said they have an Android device. Apple's iOS follows with 23 percent. Windows Phones and BlackBerry have together 6 percent of the market, and 9 percent of respondents said they don't know which OS they use. The same market split was clear both among women and men, although BlackBerry was somewhat more popular among men - 4 percent of men use a Blackberry phone versus just 2 percent of women. Slightly more women did not know which OS they use (11% vs 8% of men).

iOS more popular with young people

There was little variation according to age. Younger people (12-19) did say they use iOS more often (31%), and those over 50 use Apple devices less than the market average (15%). Over-50s were also more likely not to know which OS they use (43% vs 13% of other age groups).

Software version less well known

Among the mobile platforms, we can also differentiate between versions of the OS installed. Smartphone users are much less aware of this. Almost half (44%) said they didn't know which version of the OS their phone used. Young people were somewhat more aware of this; those with an iPhone were more likely to say they use the latest version of the OS than those with an Android phone. Three-quarters (76%) of iOS users said they had the more recent version (iOS7) running on their device.

Among Android users, Jelly Bean (versions 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3) was used the most, at 61 percent. This is the most recent but one version. The newest version of the Android software, 4.4 KitKat, is run on only 7 percent of Android smartphones in the Netherlands. A possible explanation is that it generally takes somewhat longer for Android manufacturers or providers to update the software (if they provide updates at all). Furthermore, the large number of Android models in use, compared to the iPhone, can slow the update process. In addition, the older the user, the less important it is to have the most recent version of the software.

A notable variation was the youngest group of Android users: among 12-18 year-olds, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) was used the most. This could be due to young people often receiving the hand-me-downs of parents or older siblings.

There were also differences between the sexes. Over half (55%) of women did not know which version of the OS was installed on their phone. Men were somewhat more aware, but 34 percent still said they don't know. Among those who did know, men were more likely than women to have installed an update of the OS to the latest version. Three percent of the men use Android 4.4 KitKat, versus 1 percent of women. For iOS, 16 percent of men and 13 percent of women use iOS7.

This research is based on the Telecompaper Consumer Panel. The survey was conducted in January 2014 (n=1,621). Panel members are aged 12-80, and results are stratified for age, sex and education. For more information about the research opportunities of our panel, please contact the research department, at research@telecompaper.com.

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